Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The 2013 Kansas City Maker Faire was a blast! All sorts of artists, crafters, builders and performers came together to show what we can do. It was amazing to see the different ways we all find to express our creativity. Whether it's a car covered in dentures or a homemade R2-D2, we can all make something that is unique.

The Eepy Bird performance was fantastic. I got to watch their set up before the show, it took almost three hours! That time was worth it though, because the fountain they made was great. As a crafter and artist, I also found their explanations of how to make your own fountain very interesting. I love how they attached sprinkler heads to the coke bottles to make new designs. It's great that they continue to experiment to find new and exciting ways to use coke and mentos to make performance art.

Eepy Bird Setup

I also got to see some amazing droids at the R2-D2 Builders Club. This group of people build full size astromech droids. Some are even better that the ones in the movie because they make sound and move. I am definitely going to have to download the plans to build my own R2. The plans are free to download, plus they have all sorts of tutorials and help on making your own droid.

I love seeing Star Wars enthusiasts turning their passion into works of art! Star Wars is one of my favorite themes in my own artwork, so seeing someone making an actual working robot was awesome.

The figurative sculpture of E S Schubert's was absolutely stunning. His work is both beautiful and thought provoking. The realism coupled with abstraction shows both the beauty of the human form as well as our flaws. His work also has a painterly quality not often seen in sculpture. After seeing his work at the Maker's Faire, Schubert has become one of my favorite artists. I plan on visiting all of his public installations around the Kansas City area.

Possibly the coolest invention I saw at the Maker's Faire was the turntable spirograph made by Robert Howsare. This is such a cool way to repurpose something to make artwork. It was fascinating to watch the arms of the spirograph move and form an intricate pattern. Howsare sells the prints made by his turntable on Etsy. I'd love to see this same apparatus used to etch a plate for printing. I think these patterns would also make a gorgeous fabric.

Being a part of the Maker Faire was truly inspiring. After seeing lots of other artists' experiments, I have so many new ideas for future projects. The breadth of work shown really demonstrates that anyone can find something to be passionate about and can make something that's personal, beautiful and creative. Visit the Maker Faire website to find a Maker Faire near you!